If this car were an animal...

Editor's note: Van Terradot is founder and general manager of Novatest, a Paris-based research firm.

Projective techniques derive from the concept of projection. Freud used it in 1894 to describe our tendency in some circumstances to project our own feelings, characteristics, or emotional structures onto another.

Used in the field of market research, the projection mechanism helps elicit the expression of consumers' real motivations and reservations towards tested products or messages because it uses a more roundabout, indirect and playful approach, one which avoids defense mechanisms, bypasses guilty and uneasy reactions caused by education and social mores which too often stifle true feelings. The imagined characters invented by the group, such as the type of consumer, the designer of an advertising campaign or the marketing manager of a brand are thus spokesmen who express what respondents feel about the product, campaign or brand name.

The operating principles of projective groups

Projective techniques are characterized by a longer duration (three to four hours, or even more), and in particular, by a way of moderating which is much closer to creative moderating techniques than to the usual group discussions.

Several criticisms have been levelled against the conventional techniques of data collection (in-depth individual interviews, group discussions):

  • They are based exclusively on declarations, what respondents think are the motives of their behavior, with more or less sincerity and good faith. But to ask a question does not necessarily mean that one gets the answer. Consumers are not always aware of their true motives.
  • They favor rationalizations, i.e., well thought-out answers, which are too intellectual and too constructed and which do not truly reflect the spontaneous reactions these people would have if they were faced with the products or the message in real life.
  • They do not effectively solve the problem of the dominating respondent. Once a conversation leader shows up, he influences and contaminates the whole group, and the other respondents have no other choice but to be silent or to agree, thus losing their spontaneity.

Professional groups (physicians, executives, firm managers) further magnify these phenomena. By their training, by the way they were recruited, or by profession, they are often potential leaders, and groups of this type of people frequently present this sort of hazard.

Projective moderating techniques, which in fact are a collection of techniques including others than those derived from projection, such as association mechanisms, analogies or symbolical expressions, can make up for those faults, because:

  • They use an unstructured method of expression, with words and not with sentences, close to what happens in brainstorming sessions. A few preliminary exercises help acquaint and train respondents in this unconventional way of operating. This instruction is very important as it is the only way we know of cutting short would-be domination. Deprived of their usual mechanisms of take-over by speech, dominators find themselves on equal footing with other respondents.
  • Projective techniques significantly increase the group's productivity. Once the key words are available, the meaning is clear, and much time is saved. All the padding, redundancies, and stereotypes are eliminated. The quantity of data collected in a projective group session is far greater than what can be obtained through a regular discussion session of the same duration. The moderating tempo is very rapid. Respondents are asked to say the first things that come to mind, without thinking, in order to avoid the bias of self-censorship and rationalization.
  • They reduce cultural inequalities and discrepancies in individual speech and thinking abilities. They favor expression of feelings, emotions, and sensations rather than intellectual or rational thoughts. Indeed, consumers' contact with products, brands, and advertising operates through perception, which is an entirely emotional, global and instantaneous phenomenon. Data collection should thus make it possible to have the same type of rough material, as spontaneously as possible, in order to avoid the bias of rationalization.

The use of a "symbol and image" language is one way of obtaining it. For example, an analogy game which can be either unfocused (the instruction would be: "This product is like..." and respondents would then complete the sentence with images which coincide with the way they feel about the concerned product), or focused (the instructions would be: "If it were an animal, a vegetable, etc., what would it be?). The intent of such a "symbol and image" language is to avoid trite and commonplace answers. It often gives a striking synopsis of the true motivations and barriers toward the tested object. Thus, truths which are unpalatable or likely to be censored in a conscious expression can be said in a roundabout way. So when the staff of a large public organization reacts to a new management project proposed by the national head office by likening it to making an "elephant jump rope," that speaks volume about their skepticism regarding the relevancy of the project.

  • They use the projection mechanism, i.e., allowing respondents to endow others - either imagined or real characters - with their own feelings or thoughts.

In fact, in a group solely moderated with projective techniques, respondents are no longer requested to say "I," because when a person expresses himself in his own name, he would tend to watch his words, to self-censor, in order to give of himself a coherent, logical, "intelligent" image, a phenomenon which interferes and prevents him from being his completely spontaneous, authentic and sincere self.

When respondents are forced to express themselves as a third person, they turn out to be more direct. The paradox is that when you are not talking about yourself, you say more about yourself.

  • Lastly, because they use a playful mode of expression, with games, collages, drawings, and other means of expression which facilitate the display of feelings, emotions and fantasies without self-consciousness.

In fact, respondents' "work" is done with ease, in a rather amusing and pleasant manner. There is much laughter, and respondents often come out after a three- or four-hour session feeling refreshed. Laughter is a strong means of emotional relief; it helps release tension and stress. Respondents renew contact with their emotions, with the subjective part of themselves too often repressed, neglected, and ignored. They learn again to say the truth, to be authentic, to use their freedom of opinion, to be, in fact, really themselves.

These moderating techniques are particularly adequate for problem solving. Quite frequently, the results from projective groups can do more than just state facts; they can indicate improvement routes and provide operational recommendations. Moreover, they make it possible to study the interaction of various components of a proposal (components of an advertising campaign or of a product mix for example), and to anticipate the consequences of a change (for example, of packaging, advertising or positioning) on perceptions of a brand or product.

The use of projective groups often makes it possible to limit the number of groups. Indeed, it appears that when one probes deeply enough, the content is very stable, and less subject to the fluctuations and fickleness that can accompany the collecting of more superficial, unstable opinions.

Disadvantages and limits

It has been said that projective techniques are best suited to delicate and taboo subjects, for which a direct approach by discussion would be ineffective. This is true, but in our experience projective mechanisms generally allow a freer, richer and more forceful expression of the consumers' perceptions, whether favorable or unfavorable, and on any subject.

It has also been said that those techniques are more adequate for surveys with significant imaginary and symbolic components, such as research on the potential and image of a brand or advertising.

True enough, if the research is about factual data such as the use of a product, or habits of consumption, projective techniques are not of great help. But, as soon as there are queries about the reasons, motivations, or barriers to product use, projective techniques resume their significance and relevancy.

The collected material is often rough and symbolic, requiring deciphering and some interpretation, which entails criticism of the method as being too "intellectual" and esoteric. In fact, even if these techniques initially derive from psychoanalytic concepts, when applied to market surveys, they require analysis based more on common sense than on deep psychology. Besides, while watching those groups, clients can often decipher many things themselves, even though there are great risks of their being too impressed by one verbatim that is more spectacular than others. This is the risk of all analysis done on the spot, whether of a projective group or not, making it necessary to have a systematic sorting out of all the data and a more detailed analysis.

It is a paradox that techniques derived from clinical psychology - the goal of which is to study an individual on the most personal level, to understand him, to help him in his development and in righting his dysfunction - can be used in the study of human groups like consumer populations.

In fact, projective techniques only borrow from clinical psychology the means and not the end. Individuals are of interest only for what they share with the majority of the target group, and not in their personal and unique nature. This is the reason why projective groups look more for majority tendencies, things which bring people together rather than dividing them or setting them apart (quantitative surveys are more adequate for the latter).

Projective groups in international surveys

One may wonder whether any culture would be more adapted to this kind of moderating and this mode of expression. It may seem doubtful that Germans, for example, well known for their rational minds, would accept to participate in projective games or to adopt an expression only by images and symbols.

In practice, most projective techniques turn out to be quite usable, even though alterations are needed to take into account local cultural references. Success depends more on the skill of the moderator than on cultural particularities.

For example, in one project we conducted, some German physicians were surprised to have been able to spend three hours on the same subject, without any effort. They enjoyed the pleasant, light manner in which the session went off. In fact, we managed to gather all the required information without having to go through the confrontations, social competition and conflicts that often appear in most debates.

Creativity and intelligence

If we go further, being maybe rather optimistic, we feel that all meetings should involve some projective exercises, including work meetings one may have with colleagues, clients, and suppliers. By functioning as anonymous entities, and by putting aside old reflexes, our creativity and our intelligence are allowed to come out.